*OFFICIAL* M18xR1/R1/18 Owners "Are my CPU/GPU Temps OK Thread" - Ask Questions/Get Help Here

mattlemon - no need for concern. The 71°C GPU temp is well within the normal operating range and inconsequential. Your CPU temps are low enough to be normal idle temperatures, so no worries with that either.

The fans blowing and the heat coming out of the back is a good thing. It is a sign the system is working correctly. If there were no warm air blowing out the back you would be overheating. A good analogy would be sweating when you're out in the heat. Sweating is an indication that your body is working correctly. If you stop sweating you need to be worried, as you might be having a heat stroke.

The SpeedFan flame icons only mean the temps are moving upward, but does not mean the system is overheating.

SpeedFan sometimes doesn't work properly... fans will sometimes not turn on at all... and it has been known to cause issues with DPC latency. You may want to consider ditching that and moving toe HWiNFO64. (That is what most of us are using and it works very well.) For ordinary use and gameplay, you should not need SpeedFan or HWiNFO64 for fan controls. The native fan controls on the M18x R1 and R2 work really well without any help.

 

Just thought you guys may be interested in this COOL-SILVER

I ordered few of them (excellent packing, they come in 2 pieces a packet; each piece can be used about 4 times - you can apply on your CPU and GPU's; What I am trying to say is that each piece is large enough to be cut in 4 small size thermal pads. I believe they are manufactured in US and I live in Canada; I got the shipment through regular USPS services in about 10 days).

So far I have only applied on the CPU the thermal pad and the temperature is reduced about 5-6 degrees, unbelievable! My 3920xm temperature with stock dell thermal pad was in the range of 55-60C (room temperature 22-23). Now at idle stays at about 48-49 and never goes above 55. As a matter of fact compared to the original thermal pad before the fan used to run quite often and now I can hardly hear it. I am talking about the CPU fan, because the thermal pad is only changed for the CPU. I want to keep it for few weeks this way and if it maintains this temperature, I will also apply for the GPU's. Like I said, now I hardly hear the CPU fan turning on. I forgot to mentioned that it is overclocked to the level 1 in bios.

 

This seems very much like the phase-change pads Dell uses for the heat sinks. Thanks for the link. I ordered 2 packages (6 pieces) to see how they do.

 

That's correct Mr. Fox. Except that this more like 'high quality' pads. Pleasure is mine.

 

Here is more info from the manufacturer web site: DIE ATTACH and THERMAL INTERFACE MATERIALS for CPU, GPU, MEMORY MODULE in LAPTOP, TABLET, SERVER, MAINFRAME AND SUPER COMPUTERS | AI Technology, Inc.

 

Hehehe. I already did a research on them before ordering. I didn't want to waste time and money with some Chinese company (though they have a branch over there)... For some reason I think you will be impressed by the way they did the packing.

My apology - yes there are 3 thermal pads in each packet (I guess I did not pay much attention to that). I wonder if the temperature is decreased because those thermal pads are very thin. I was actually surprised and I was a bit doubtful when I used it (I though it may not be enough thermal compound). The one I have from dell are very thick...

 

my cpu temps(3720) are at an idle 65 degrees is that high. m18x r2

 

It all depends on your ambient temperature as well. If you are in a room of approx. 30 degrees celsius, than that temperature is normal. If your room temps are somewhere at about 21-22, that's a bit hot. But as long as your cpu temps do not hit above high 90 at load, there is nothing to worry about. Consider yourself having a long term warranty, so if the fans fail on your unit, will be easily replaced at no cost... That's my opinion

 

about 10 degrees lol

 

If you were in a room of 10 degrees, then you and your computer within days would not have survived...

 

Well, 10°C is only 50°F, which sounds like an absolutely perfect indoor climate to me. But, my central air won't cool the house down that much. My wife would also be quite unhappy with that temperature. (I despise warm weather and would only turn on the furnace high enough in winter to keep the pipes from freezing if the decision were mine alone.)

But, I have a hunch that nimbat has a typo in his post.

 

By the way, regarding the thermal pad: When you receive it and you want to apply it on the CPU, please make sure you remove first one side of the paper stuck to the thermal pad (the smaller paper), cut the thermal pad to the size, stick it well to the heatsink (press hard and sufficient time with no hurry) and slowly remove the other side before sticking it to the CPU and screw it down. Why am I saying this? Because this thermal pad is so much thinner than the one provided by Dell and if you do not do it the right way you may end up spoiling it (Like I did with half of one pad) in different ways: not sticking it properly or getting it stuck to the paper and being unable to remove it from the paper.

 

Thank you. That's good advice. I had a few phase change pads a few years ago and I could not use them. It was impossible to remove the plastic/paper without totally destroying them. (Fortunately, I did not pay anything for those. They were sent to me as test samples.) But, I am expecting these to be much better.

 

oh yeah sorry im australian so we use celcius and its about 2 degrees outside and 10 inside

also how do u do the little o in 10c

 

The easiest way to get seldom-used characters like that is by using Windows Character Map.

 

any results back from those pads you guys purchased the TIM pads

 

Have not received mine yet, but juliant posted that he is getting good results with them.

Not sure when I will disturb my system to install them, as my CPU and GPUs are running as cool as they need to for the moment.

 

Hey guys....just wanted to check some info with you all.

I recently wanted to rip some Retail DVD discs to MP4 files so that I could watch 'em on my droid. I downloaded Handbrake for 64bit and also DvdFab Passkey Lite to remove the protection guff. All going great this far....remove the protection from my movie, open up Handbrake and go about using it as instructed to create my MP4 file...... low and behold, my cpu temps rocketed - and I mean 99-100c (see spoiler). Now, the thing is, my cpu runs normal temps under gaming and at idle and I checked the heatsinks for dust bunnies etc and all is good there.

Spoiler

So, in a nutshell, any one else use Handbrake for encoding and if so, is this normal cpu temperature? - if not, anyone have any good suggestions as an alternative program to achieve the same thing as Handbrake without the insane cpu temps?

 

I don't use Handbrake or DVDFab Passkey for that task, but the high temps are normal. This is a very intensive CPU task. A Dell Level 3 OC, or slightly more (40x4) should make the temps fine and provide plenty of CPU boost to speed it up. I often use HWiNFO64 and boost the fans to 100% before starting the process and that helps keep the OC going without overheating.

 

I knew it was gonna be cpu intensive but I wasnt expecting temps in the realm of 100c ! LOL - My cpu OC is just factory lvl3 right now and the machine handled those temps - it didnt shut down....havent used HWiNFO to control fans during the process but I will look into doing so.

Tell me, Brother Fox, what apps do you use for this kind of task.....would be keen to hear!

 

I use Slysoft AnyDVD HD, Nero Recode, or Nero Video, depending on the task. Nero Recode is only for transcoding purposes. Nero Video is a full-blown editing and composition app that I use for all of the videos I put on my YouTube channel. It does transcoding as well as all of the special effects.

AnyDVD HD has a nifty feature that allows you to copy DVD/BD disk content directly to HDD for encoding to MP4 or other format at a later time. The encoding process obviously goes faster from HDD. (Or, you can play the content directly from the folder if you choose to do that instead of converting.) Nero Recode will import from the AnyDVD folder as though it were an optical disk.

 

I use DVDFab, myself. It gets the job done for me. On my M17x, the 2720QM would heat up into the 80s, so I'm not surprised your temps were up there on an XM.

Good luck with your video encoding. It can be a pain at times, haha.

 

Thanks guys.

I was just being a tight-wad and using freewares to get teh job done. I spotted those other alternatives but my wallet shut as tight as a clam shell when I saw the prices LOL........Fox, does your cpu heat up to that degree with the programs you use for encoding??

 

No, not quite that hot.

If your BIOS is set for a level 3 overclock, try changing the default flex from 25 to 10 and see if that helps your temps. It should lower them by quite a bit. If 10 works good, try 5 or zero. Raise it back up a bit if you get a BSOD from flex being too low. (Mine is good at 10, but the 2960XM can use a bit lower flex without a BSOD more so than the 2920XM.)

 

Thanks for the tip....I will give that a try and see how she fairs!

 

Hey so i don't know if any of you remember me posting my concern about the 10c difference in load temps between my 2 680m's but i figured it out...

Its the fan profiles, it seems as if when gpu 0 gets to around 70c it shoots the fan RPM into the 3300-3500 range and gpu2 only shoots up to about 2800ish, while using HWINFO and setting all fans manually to 3600, gpu 0 fan sits around 3500-3600ish and gpu 1 fan sits around 3400-3500ish and the temp differences after 30 minutes of looped Unigine Heaven is within 2-4c of eachother, temps originally were never above 72ish or so, so wasnt a need for concern but things bug me when they aren't acting as they should and i had a feeling something was wrong here!

edit 30 minute run of Heaven at 1920x1200 maxed settings showed a temp of GPU0 64c and GPU 1 66c at 823/2000

And if anyone is curious or doesn't know, both GPU fans maximum RPM is 4200 and CPU is 4600.

 

Do I need to think about a repaste on my CPU? It's the 2760qm and I have been getting a consistent 78-85 on the 4 cores. No core reaches 90 but I am consistently gaming in the 80s. I repasted my GPU's and they are sitting at a nice and even 67-71. It is the first time i have had both GPU's identical or within 1 degree. So I am happy with those but I don't know if I need to repaste CPU's at these temps. I really really hate opening up this m18x compared to the old m17x R2. What do you guys think?

 

80-85 are acceptable temps if your overclocked but that sounds alittle too high, maybe try checking for dust buildup, opening the botton panel and while holding the fan rotors in place use some compressed air to blow out any dust, clean'm real good and give us a temp report after that, if thats not the issue, you should prop up the back of the computer about an inch, to give room for airflow if thats not the issue, then we can talk about repasting.

Edit: also tell us your ambient temps, thats a BIG factor in cooling, if your running this computer in a warm room you are going to see a big difference in temps if the room is alittle cooler, ambient plays a big role in the performance of cooling in any system.

 

Thanks for the reply. The system is clean as can be. When I repasted my GPUs there was absolutely no dust built up anywhere in the system. I use compressed air regularly. I use a small 17in laptop cooler that also acts as a lift. The system is propped up well.

The ambient temps are warm. I can't give you an exact reading but I am usually on the fourth floor of a big condo and the summer heat coupled with poor AC on the top floor is an issue. These temps usually are in the 70s if I play a game like Dues Ex or run 3d mark. I mostly play Source based games and the new CS:GO puts the temps at the 78-85 range on the cores. It's only one core that hits 85. I am not overclocked nor plan to be with this processor.

 

I would not worry about it right now. That's not hot enough to bother with at this point. If the temps get higher you can deal with it later.

 

Is there a BIOS available for the M17x-R3 that offers the Level 1-3 OC profiles and the Flex setting option? Failing that, is the 2920 a drop in replacement for the 3720 in my 18R2 or would it require a BIOS flash or other modification?

 

I'm quite sure that the m17x should have those bios setting and from what I read here the 2920xm works just fine in the m18x r2 (with any bios)

 

The 17-R3 doesn't have those as a BIOS option, at least not in A08 and the modded A08.

 

maybe the m17x r3 doesnt have it but I'm almost positive that the r4 has it.
You have to enable the "overclocking feature"
and then you have to set "extreme edition" to "bios" and after that you should be able to see it.


edit: Look at this post for a screenshot of the m17x r4 bios showing the overclocking level1-3

 

R4 Bios screenshots do me no good, thanks though.

 

Im really new to this whole thing, so I'm not really sure what temps are okay and at what point they should be lower. I just got my new system about a week ago, and I want to learn as much as possible about it. I never use to monitor my old laptop so I figure with a purchase like this, maybe its time to adapt to the Alien ware lifestyle. Is there a place I can go to read up about temperatures and other important things to monitor. Also what about good programs that monitor temperatures. Maybe one that runs at the same time while I'm on the laptop with alerts or something. I'm not into the whole bench marking scene, and I'm not a heavy game (maybe soon due to the machine) but I do run a lot of 3d modeling programs. You can see my current set up in my signature. Any advice would be great.

 

This thread should be useful for you: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...mperatures-game-benchmark-screen-display.html

You can set up monitoring so that you can see whats going on with your cpu/gpu temperatures. There are a few alternative "standalone" app's that can monitor temps without the need to set up the monitoring as Mr. Fox has done. These would be GPU-z for your graphics cards, RealTemp for your CPU or you can just use HWiNFO64 on its own to monitor both at the same time (I use the portable .zip download). I don't think there are ANY tools which will give you a "physical" alert such as a sound but as long as you keep an eye on temps when doing heavy loads, you should be fine. Typical temperatures for gaming for gpu's would be anywhere up to around 80c. Your CPU has inbuilt thermal protection so it will shutdown if it gets too hot. For gaming, it should reach no more than around 80c again, depending on the title and if it is CPU intensive (eg. Metro 2033). 3d rendering can tax your cpu a lot - I,m not 100% sure, maybe someone with more experience with modelling could help out, but many programs will utilize your CPU to the maximum with all available cores, so hotter temps...some programs utilize the GPU but you probably know more about that than I do!

 

Thanks, 3DS Max definitely uses the CPU heavily, that would be my main concern. I was told that by upgrading to the 3 pipe heat sink would help a lot. HWiNFO64 will monitor both the GPU and CPU at the same time? If thats the case, would I need any other programs other than these two?

 

Personally, I don't think so. You could grab GPU-z and RealTemp just to see how they fair. If you wanted to monitor temperatures "in-game", you would want to follow Mr. Fox's guide that I linked to so that info can be displayed on screen whilst gaming. If you chose not to do that, the other app's will still monitor but you wont be able to keep a "real-time" eye on things whilst gaming.

 

Was the "I don't think so" in regards to thee question about the 3 pipe heat sink. If so, would you mind explaining. I would think that having a 3 pipe instead of 1 pipe would allow for better cooling.

 

No. That was in relation to needing the other app's to monitor. If you don't want to monitor things whislt gaming, you could just use HWiNFO64 - the others are good too and I use them aswell as HWiNFO sometimes. I think the triple pipe would be a good idea to keep your CPU temps as low as humanly possible.

 

Would it be a good idea to use the method that Mr. Fox explains, to keep an eye on my temps while I run my rendering?

 

Yes, I would say so. if you want to keep an eye on cpu/gpu temps under load it should provide you with all the information you want.

 

leave my awmx18 for 2 hours download torrent
and the temp is like that



ambient temp 24C
is normal or not ?

 

I'm gonna assume a desk surface, seems perfectly normal to me for 75 degrees F ambient, HDD Assembly is a little warm but for torrenting that's expected due to constant read / write from downloading / seeding.

 

I had to have a technician come out to my home to replace my 680m's and SLI bridge, now my GPU's are idling at about 10c higher than they were before they were replaced. They are also running hotter during gaming. What should I/can I do? Is it possible for nVidia Inspector to give false or incorrect readings?



While I do not recall it happening before, I noticed also that the
P-State was changing from P8-P5 while idle also.

 

idle's dont matter too much but what are your gaming max temps?

 

I don't think I would be concerned about 53°C. That is well within the realm of "ordinary" idle temps. What are the temps during gaming that are "hotter" than before? If they are in the mid-70's or less you're fine. Has there been any change in ambient temps? The readings from NVIDIA Inspector probably are correct. If there is any question or doubt, you can check the temps with HWiNFO64 or install the GPU Observer sidebar gadget to compare against the reading with NVIDIA Inspector. You can also check with MSI Afterburner.

 

Sorry I made a thread in the "wrong" area and thank you for moving it. I was in such a hurry before work last night after the technician left and I was worried so I just wanted to get something out there before heading to work.

It's not odd that prior to the GPU's being replaced that my idles were normally around 34c-44c? As for gaming, beforehand I would be getting around 46c-56c where as last night my temps jumped from 50c-53c up to 61c just in the menus before logging into a game. Ambient temperatures have been getting lower recently as well. I know those temps are within the ordinary/regular limits/ranges but it just sorta "frightened" me considering I hadn't reached those temps before even under load excluding ultra BF3 and even that was only 66c max.

Thanks for the quick replies and input. Mr. Fox I know I can always count on you for a reply Which is why I wanted to get something out there before I went to work. I knew I'd come home this morning to some helpful info. I just didn't want to "wait and see" before asking questions. I'll keep a close eye on my temps from here on out and hopefully they stay within acceptable ranges.

 

I use DVDDecrypter (if you can find a copy) and Videora for converting to Mp4

OB